"Land! Land!"

The recent theoretical analysis of Land (see 34: 2483) has been received by some as the ultimate in understanding color vision. When the features of the theory are contrasted with prior formulations and data the assertion is made that "I am quite content with being able to explain why Land gets what he does get, using only old knowledge and old language and making no use whatever of Land's fantastic new hypotheses and new concepts." 16 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Surviving old age in prison

Although elderly inmates form a small minority in the U.S. prison population (6.6%), this number is expected to increase by 2005. Elderly prisoners consist of first-time offenders, habitual offenders, and those who have "aged in place" (received very long sentences at a young age). Violence is an identified stressor affecting the elderly prisoner. This enduring stressor can add to physical deterioration, particularly in the inmate with chronic illness. Violence in prison falls into three categories: prisoner-prisoner, staff-prisoner, or prisoner-staff (Clear & Cole, 1994). Prisoner-prisoner incidents account for the majority of violence within prison systems. The convict in today's prison will use extremes of violence to combat threats to his or her reputation or self-concept of "machismo," or if the inmate feels "disrespected." The aging prisoner may have chronic, pervasive stress levels disguised under a tough veneer, although he or she may no longer be strong enough physically or emotionally to fend off potential attackers. Interventions with elderly prisoners include thorough physical and cognitive assessment, including signs and symptoms of depression or stress related to environmental disturbances. Educational training for correctional staff about age-specific developmental changes is necessary. Building partnerships with community, state, and national organizations can assist elderly inmates in their adjustment to prison and foster successful community release programs. Special care units may be considered for frail elderly inmates or those with chronic health problems.     

Multiculturalism and transcultural nursing in Australia

The author looks at Australia's multicultural society and identifies the failure of the nursing profession to provide nursing services that meet the commitment of Australia to preserve the cultural backgrounds and meet the needs of the people nurses serve. The author suggests ways in which this problem can be addressed. It is argued that there is a need to ensure that transcultural nursing services are recognized and made accessible to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Nurses need educational preparation to provide them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to work with people from different cultures. Moreover, the cultural profile of the nursing profession should approximate those served. Nurses today must recognize these critical needs and be committed to provide transcultural nursing care that is so essential in Australia's multicultural society.     

Envenoming and antivenom use in Australia

Australia has a diverse and rich venomous fauna, both terrestrial and marine, including some of the most venomous species in each class. Antivenom is the principal therapy for the majority of medically significant envenomings and is currently supplied through a single source, CSL, Melbourne. Cases of envenoming reported to Australian poisons information centers (PICs) are dominated by spiderbite and insect stings, respectively accounting for 53.7% and 39.3% of all bite/sting calls. Marine animal bites/stings/poisonings account for only 4% of PIC calls in this category, while snakebites account for a mere 3% (still at least 400 calls/yr). Because most PIC calls are from the public, not doctors/hospitals, snakebite in particular is under-represented. The author has recently reviewed antivenom usage in Australia. Snakebite affects between 1,000 to 3,000 people per year, with an average annual mortality of about 2 cases. Brown snakes (genus Pseudonaja) cause the majority of deaths (and bites), with tiger snakes (genus Notechis) and taipans (genus Oxyuranus) accounting for nearly all other fatalities. Up to 500 cases require snake antivenoms each year, the majority of cases coming from rural areas of Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, these being the most populated states. The wide availability of snake venom detection kits has allowed specific antivenom to be used more often, rather than polyvalent antivenom, but the latter is still used in nearly 30% of cases, suggesting underutilization of venom detection. The issue of premedication prior to antivenom remains unresolved. Antivenom usage and complication data for 1995 and 1996 will be presented. Red back spider antivenom is the most commonly used antivenom, with reports of usage being greater than for all other antivenoms combined. It is reported as being therapeutically efficacious in 94% of cases, with a single ampoule being used in 76% of cases, 2 ampoules in 18% of cases, and 3 or more ampoules in 6% of cases. Clinical experience suggests only 20% of red back spider bites require antivenom therapy. It is likely that between 5-10,000 bites occur annually.     

Blindness and trachoma in South Australia

The dengue prevention activities in Martinique are based on: Entomological surveillance (including the use of insecticide in all parts of the Island). Epidemiological (clinical, serological and virological) surveillance. Health Education (radio, TV, exhibitions, talks in primaries and secondaries schools, in associations,...). The main breeding sites of Aedes aegypti are maintained by human practices: flowers vases, containers, used tyres, waste... The role of those human practices in the standing of Aedes aegypti populations at high level in Martinique have lead us to emphasize entomological observations and Health education. The calculation of classical Breteau Index abstracts the nature and the productivity of the breeding sites (f.e.: no difference between a flower vase and a drum). In operational way, we have introduced a new approach for calculating the Breteau index value which includes the breeding sites nature and productivity. This approach permit us to adapt the Health education message in each geographical sector.     

Help!

The author comments on the American Psychological Association's request that readers include the city postal zone number when contacting the office concerning any APA journals (American Psychologist, 1963, 18, ad page). The author agrees but suggests that APA will go one step further by specify the address of the authors to whom requests for reprints of articles printed in the APA journals should be sent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Burkitt's lymphoma in Australia

An Australian case of Burkitt's lymphoma is reported. The clinical features of large ovarian masses and subsequent bone marrow invasion, as well as the results of investigations related to the Epstein-Barr virus, were more consistent with the American than the African type of Burkitt's lymphoma. After a good initial response to cyclophosphamide and vincristine, the tumour rapidly became resistant to these and other therapeutic measures and the patient died 10 months after diagnosis.     

Medicine in tropical Australia

In the unique environment of Australia's tropical north there are endemic diseases inherited from Gondwana, others introduced from the north and from Europe, and a wide range of particularly venomous animals. There is continuing disparity in morbidity and mortality between Aboriginal people and other Australians in tropical areas and elsewhere. This is being addressed by the National Aboriginal Health Strategy, which emphasises social, environmental and economic issues, as well as control and coordination of services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. While the re-introduction of malaria remains a potential threat, together with other infections, current diseases in tropical Australia are being better elucidated; melioidosis is now recognised as the commonest cause of fatal [corrected] community-acquired pneumonia in the Top End of the Northern Territory, and a new focus of scrub typhus has been found. Sexually transmitted diseases are an urgent issue, especially for Aboriginal communities, given the potential impact of the human immunodeficiency virus.     

Strychnine increases acoustic startle amplitude but does not alter short-term or long-term habituation.

Used the glycine antagonist strychnine (1.0 mg/kg, ip, 10 min before treatment) to investigate the involvement of glycinergic neurons in the development and/or expression of short-term (within-session) habituation (Exp I) and long-term (between-sessions) habituation (Exps II and III) of the acoustic startle response in 120 male albino Sprague-Dawley rats. Over a range of eliciting-stimulus intensities (95, 105, and 115 db) and interstimulus intervals (3, 7, 13, and 27 sec), strychnine markedly increased startle amplitude, relative to water injection, whereas it failed to attenuate the rate of within-session habituation (Exp I). In Exp II, Ss that were exposed to daily sessions of startle-eliciting stimuli for 4 days and then tested on Day 5 showed lower levels of startle amplitude than Ss with no prior habituation training. Strychnine injected prior to the test session again increased startle amplitude but did not block the expression of between-sessions habituation. In Exp III, Ss injected with either strychnine or water prior to each of 3 daily habituation training sessions and subsequently tested on Day 4 showed similar between-sessions habituation. In general, results show that strychnine increased startle amplitude without affecting either within-session or between-sessions habituation of acoustic startle. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious ritual and dissociation in India and Australia

Bone metastases, together with generalized bone resorption, represent the main complication in patients with advanced prostate cancer, and palliative treatments are required to delay the progression of the metastases and improve the quality of life of these patients. For this reason, the bisphosphonate clodronate was administered to 18 patients (clodronate group) from a total of 30, all of whom were receiving complete androgenic blockade; the remaining 12 formed the control group. Transiliac bone biopsies were taken at the beginning of the study and 6 months later to determine the effect of the bisphosphonate on the skeleton. The results were assessed by bone histomorphometry and showed, although without statistical significance between the groups, an antiresorptive effect of the clodronate expressed as the eroded surface/bone surface and as the osteoclast number/bone surface. However, the bone volume also decreased after 6 months of treatment. Similarly, osteoid formation decreased as indicated by the osteoid surface and by the osteoid volume, probably due to the effect of the drug on the osteoblasts. The mineralization rate was apparently slightly retarded in the clodronate group, although to a lesser degree than in the control group. The results confirm the antiresorptive effect of clodronate and its detrimental effect on osteoblast activity.